Apple, Predix team up for industrial gear control and monitoring, GE will standardize on i...
Apple and GE have announced a partnership to deliver industrial apps designed to bring data and analytics from GE's Predix's automation platform to the iPhone and iPad -- and GE will now use iOS devices across its employee workforce.
Announcing the partnership, Apple noted that the new SDK will give industrial customers "insight and visibility" into equipment performance, and allow for remote control and monitoring of the gear from an iPhone, on-site, or remotely.
"GE is an ideal partner with a rich history of innovation across the industrial world in areas like aviation, manufacturing, healthcare and energy," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Together, Apple and GE are fundamentally changing how the industrial world works by combining GE's Predix platform with the power and simplicity of iPhone and iPad."
Predix is GE's software platform for the collection and analysis of data from industrial equipment, like wind turbines, robotic assembly equipment, and other similar gear. GE plans to expand the "internet of things" for industry with cloud servers and and an app store -- and Apple's iOS now gives the company a common software control platform to simplify the latter.
As a result of the partnership, GE will standardize on iPhone and iPad for mobile devices and also promote Mac as a choice for its global workforce of more than 330,000 employees. Apple will promote GE's Predix as the industrial IoT analytics platform of choice to its customers and developers.
The new Predix SDK for iOS will be available to download on October 26.
Announcing the partnership, Apple noted that the new SDK will give industrial customers "insight and visibility" into equipment performance, and allow for remote control and monitoring of the gear from an iPhone, on-site, or remotely.
"GE is an ideal partner with a rich history of innovation across the industrial world in areas like aviation, manufacturing, healthcare and energy," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Together, Apple and GE are fundamentally changing how the industrial world works by combining GE's Predix platform with the power and simplicity of iPhone and iPad."
Predix is GE's software platform for the collection and analysis of data from industrial equipment, like wind turbines, robotic assembly equipment, and other similar gear. GE plans to expand the "internet of things" for industry with cloud servers and and an app store -- and Apple's iOS now gives the company a common software control platform to simplify the latter.
As a result of the partnership, GE will standardize on iPhone and iPad for mobile devices and also promote Mac as a choice for its global workforce of more than 330,000 employees. Apple will promote GE's Predix as the industrial IoT analytics platform of choice to its customers and developers.
The new Predix SDK for iOS will be available to download on October 26.
Comments
On a serious note this is very good news. The industrial world is stuck on MS Windows for the most part (99,9%), so any cracks that Apple can open up is a good thing.
While others are worried about market share blips, Apple is making decisions that will allow for long-term success.
If what this cloud-based software can do bores you, then you need to get out an see what it happening in the rest of the world. This is a huge announcement, especially since GE announced they'd be using and pushing iOS devices. As @wizard69 comments, it's about time companies are taking Apple products and connectivity seriously instead of simple using Microsoft garbage.
Actually, it's late in the evening here. I'll sleep on this and check in the morning that I wasn't dreaming. (I dreamt about Ethereum last night, GE tonight perhaps, oh dear!)
that set Apple’s chances back for years. But it’s said that Cook persuaded him to change his mind a few years later.
The real battles in the industrial automation space are typically fought at the standardization and workgroup level, whether actual IEC/ISO types of standards typically pushed by user organizations and smaller vendors or defacto standards typically pushed by larger vendors and consortiums, like GE/Predix/Apple as described in this article. These battles tend to be long and drawn out affairs that require a lot of patience and extended commitments. While the industrial automation vendors have the patience and intestinal fortitude to fight these protracted battles, onesthat often result in technology choices that are middle-aged or worse by the time they achieve mainstream adoption, companies like Apple and Microsoft often lose interest in these efforts as the battles wage on for years.
The ROI timeframe expectations for companies like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are much different than they are for A-B/RA, Siemens, ABB, Schneider, Omron, etc. Microsoft in particular always seems to jump into new industry initiatives with both feet and with high levels of visible commitment and support. MSFT wants to be seen as a leading partner for as long as it has an ROI that fits their needs. When the timelines start to stretch out or when they realize that they can't coerce their defacto standards through the real standards bodies, they often seem to lose interest and back off, or go looking for other more exciting partners to dance with. I don't know how Apple will react under similar circumstances. To be fair though, the industrial vendors and the standards bodies need to up their games as well. Things like industrial cybersecurity have to be moved along quickly and cannot afford to languish forever in committees and working groups.
Huge in itself, considering GE even after trimming itself still globally diverse in turbines, healthcare, energy, etc. Much of its revenue is recurring services on its products.
My hunch is AR potential played a part. For servicing, it’s the manual of our time. If right, Apple’s AR platform might bring in other industrials and become de facto standard. Think Boeing, Deere, Caterpillar, Honeywell, 3M…
EDIT: Yes, agree with you Jdgaz!
A few key observations:
- In 7 years, I am still using the same MBP. Everyone else has gone through a PC upgrade once or twice (every 3-4 years).
- The corp IT/application environment has improved to the point where all applications required either are supported on Mac or web based. No Windows necessary (for me).
- I have managed to support myself with the help of internal user groups and web knowledge, together with a h/w fix by a local firm (once - covered by Apple on recall).
- I estimate the amount of time I have spent on support myself is less time than my peers in their interactions with IT on their PC/Windows issues
- In the never ending drive to lower costs, our IT service continues to decrease where much of the PC/Windows support is "support yourself" and only critical issues, h/w failures, or things like getting new s/w, are handled by IT. In such a world, I can tell you my peers are jealous of the Mac
- Simple things like using my AirPods with my Mac instead of needing to get a 3rd party BT headset (which I am sure cost close to what the AirPods cost me).
This is just my view, but my anecdotal evidence supports those "studies" (like IBM did) to say that despite the higher initial prices, a Mac has a significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
In fact, a forward thinking company would offer something like $500 every 4 years towards an employee to purchase their own Mac and have that supported within the company IT environment. Would lower company TCO even more, and would increase employee satisfaction immensely for those who prefer Macs. But the head of IT would lose his marbles....
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3131906/apple-mac/ibm-says-macs-are-even-cheaper-to-run-than-it-thought.html
"IBM today told the record-setting seventh Jamf Nation User Conference that it is saving even more money by deploying Macs across the company than it thought: each Mac deployment saves the company up to $535 over four years, in contrast to the $270 per Mac it claimed last year.
That’s a hugely significant statistic for any Mac user and follows extensive use of the platform by IBM. IBM VP of Workplace as a Service, Fletcher Previn, told the conference that 90,000 employees are now using Macs, up from 30,000 in 2015. 100,000 of IBM’s global workforce will be using Macs by the end of the year, he said, and the number is climbing.
There are lots of reasons for this, not least that better OS software means Apple needs to update its systems far less often than Microsoft updates Windows. "We have to go out and manage the Mac environment 104 fewer times a year than PC,” Previn said."
period.https://www.computerworld.com/article/3131906/apple-mac/ibm-says-macs-are-even-cheaper-to-run-than-it-thought.html
one reason why this is happening is because iOS is much easier to manage than Windows. It’s also pretty free from malware, due to its design, and with Apple allowing organizations to set up private stores within the App Store, proprietary software can be written and distributed without being seen publically. Interestingly enough, the lack of a fully compliant usb input is another reason. Much of stolen info is now gathered with an innocuous usb stick. That’s can’t be done with an iOS device.
this is a different move into hardware analysis, though that includes the software too, of course, because these days almost all industrial hardware is controlled through software.
GE has been using Macs and iOS for some years now in more limited areas. I imagine that with IBM and other large VARs such as UNISYS, which started selling and integrating Apple products years before IBM did, Apple doesn’t seem so foreign to these large organizations as it did earlier, after Michael Spindler almost destroyed Apple in 1995. Before that time, Apple was very popular among tech companies such as Boeing and the once major powerhouse, Motorola.